U.S. President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for the sale of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok by 75 days, according to reports on Friday.
The original extension was scheduled to expire on Saturday, but Trump has now postponed the deadline for a second time.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said the extension was necessary to allow for realistic sale negotiations, noting that approval from all stakeholders is required for the transaction to move forward.
He added that he had signed an executive order granting TikTok an additional 75 days to keep it alive.
TikTok, a subsidiary of Chinese tech company ByteDance, is at risk of being banned in the U.S. unless it is sold, due to national security concerns. The original legal deadline was January 18, but the Biden administration deferred the decision to Trump’s second term, citing his clear stance on preserving TikTok. Upon taking office, Trump immediately extended the deadline by 75 days.
This latest move adds another 75 days to the timeline.
It appears Trump may be using TikTok as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with China.
Announcing the extension, Trump expressed a desire to continue cooperating with China in good faith. He acknowledged that China will not be very pleased with our mutual tariffs, but maintained that such measures are essential for fair and balanced trade between the U.S. and China.
Following the U.S. imposition of a 50 percent tariff on April 2, China swiftly retaliated with a 34 percent tariff on American products, effective April 3.
Market analysts believe TikTok will play a crucial role in the evolving U.S.-China trade talks. Meanwhile, the competition to acquire TikTok is intensifying. On April 2, Amazon made a surprise entry into the bidding war.
Previously, Silicon Valley venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz and global hedge fund leader Blackstone had also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok. The sale of TikTok requires final approval from Chinese authorities.
